Jacob, are you implying?
by bliv
Summary: I like to think that Jacob is Team Jack, but hardly think he'd come around easily to that idea.
1. Chapter 1

Really not sure where I'm going with this! Reviews are très welcome :)

Chapter One

"_Jacob, are you implying that I'm not good for your daughter?"_

"UNSCHEDULED OFFWORLD ACTIVATION!" the klaxons blared across the base. It was 0300 and now nobody was sleeping. Contrary to popular belief, the workers of the SGC were not always consummate professionals, and were even less so at the wee hours of the morning. That was the reason that while Colonel Jack O'Neill was heading to level 24 to see what the fuss was about, a lowly, frustrated and sleep deprived lieutenant was opening the door to his quarters and bellowing "would somebody, _please_ shut that damn noise off!"

O'Neill had seen a lot of strangeness over the last few years, and knew what it was like to be that frustrated and sleep deprived. So he waved cheerily at the lieutenant, who, even exhausted and close to tears, visibly shrank back at the sight of a superior officer.

By the time he reached the control room, O'Neill was in a positively excellent mood, quite ready to face whatever was coming through the gate. The iris was already open and General Hammond was making his way down to the gate room, and when Jack arrived, was asking their visitor if he wanted Sam to be called.

Jacob shook his head. "And if you wouldn't mind, George, I'd prefer you didn't tell her I visited. I just need to speak with Jack, here, for a moment."

If Hammond was surprised it didn't show. The last time Jacob had shown up like this and asked to speak to Jack he'd nearly killed him. It had been a good thing Jacob had insisted on leaving the base before they got down to business: his exclamations of "WHAT?! Anise was telling the truth?! You're in love with my daughter?!" could have drawn some suspicion.

Jack looked to the General for some kind of protection, but Hammond just smiled at him in a fatherly manner and then left them to it.

There was a tense silence. "So, Jacob. Er, General Carter, sir. Lunch?"

"I've been thinking about what you asked me," Jacob told him as they settled into chairs in the commissary. "Maybe I spoke too soon when I said no."

"Even the second time?" And third, fourth, fifth, ninth times? Jack wasn't too sure what he was hearing.

"Yes, Jack. I suppose your... persistence... had something to do with me changing my mind." He leaned towards Jack suddenly and told him "you have to remember though, Jack, me saying yes in no way means that she will." Then from his pocket he produced a small box, which he passed across the table to Jack. "This was her mother's. Take good care of it."

Jack didn't look inside the box before he tucked it into his BDUs; he did that later, alone in his quarters. That was where he kept it, away from the intimacy of his home life and hers, where work could remind him of why he couldn't give it to her just yet, but where it could, on the bad days, remind him that someday, he might be able to.

Months passed. More Goa'uld popped up. Jack got snaked and tortured and when he came back, the stricken look he saw now and again in Sam's eyes when she looked at him reminded him how she still cared. But Jack knew that when the shit really hit the fan, he couldn't be objective when it came to her anymore; he couldn't be her lover and her commanding officer. So, the ring got gradually more buried in his bedside drawer, along with his feelings.

Then, one day, Carter had hummed in the elevator. Jack had asked polite questions and hidden his morbid curiosity, then hidden in the bathroom until he stopped feeling queasy. And now, here he was, standing outside her door with the ring in his pocket, finally having made a decision.

_Pete gave me this._


	2. Chapter 2

We go back to Jack and Jacob in this one. Still don't know what I'm doing :)

Please review :)

It took about half an hour after Jack had convinced Jacob that beer was the answer for him to regain his composure. He was, however, in no way happy.

"I hope you understand the consequences of what you've done here, Jack."

"What _I've_ done? Enlighten me Jacob, what the hell have I done?"

Jacob sighed and leaned back into the booth, playing with the bottle cap on the table. After a long silence, he told Jack resignedly "You should know better. You're her CO. You're what, fifteen years older than her? Sam shouldn't have to deal with any problems this causes."

"She won't have to. I've been objective with her up until now, just because the whole damn world knows..." Jack stopped talking, seeming to have completely lost his thread.

"Knows that you want to sleep with her?" Jacob filled in, fixing Jack with a hard look.

"Shut up."

"Excuse me?" Jacob leaned aggressively towards Jack. "Do I have to remind you who is the ranking officer at this table?"

"You don't know squat, Jacob. You're either making assumptions or Anise is deliberately giving you the wrong idea."

"Why would she do that?"

"She made a move on me, I turned her down."

"Wow, Jack, you do get all the girls. How lucky _my _little girl is to be involved in all that."

"Shut _up,_ General. You haven't been around the last few years. You don't know what your daughter's become! How much more she can and will be!" Jack thudded his bottle onto the table and moved to stand, pulling a few bills from his pocket and dropping them.

"Is that what this is about? You're not trying to tell me that the heartless, moral-free, insubordinate Jack O'Neill thinks he's worthy of even thinking about Sam that way? Like something more than just a pretty thing to _fuck?_"

Jack's eyes blackened as he wrenched his jacket from the back of the booth. "Oh, starting with the insults now? Jacob," he simpered, "are you implying that I'm not good for your daughter? Need I remind you that you stood by while she got engaged to Hanson, and we both know how well that ended! Carter can do whatever the hell she damn well pleases, and we should both be seeing to that instead of arguing over who cares about her the most!"

And with that, he stormed up the aisle and out of the bar, leaving Jacob to hurry after him.

They were nearly back to the base before Jacob saw fit to speak again. He stared forwards into the darkening sky, refusing to look at the man sitting next to him.

"I suppose if it's true what Anise told me about you, she was telling the truth about Sam's reply?"

Jack's jaw clenched. Jacob didn't see.

"What did she say?"

"That Sam had good taste." His attempt at humour had O'Neill laughing bitterly.

"I want to marry her, Jacob."

Jacob had managed everything else thrown at him that day, but O'Neill's simple, quiet confession sent him flying over the edge.


	3. Chapter 3

Aand back to our two favourites. Oh, and I can't decide if Jacob's died yet in this, so let's say he hasn't 

Also, thanks to the reviewer who warned me about ratings, I'm still getting used to this system and hope I didn't offend.

No, Carter should have her mother's ring, even if it couldn't be him that it tied her to.

Jack bounced on his toes as he waited for Carter to get the door. He craned his neck back a little, checking the road outside her house. Yep, her car was parked there. He bounced some more.

Maybe she wasn't in. He knew she kept the bike in the garage, although he wasn't sure how, so she could have taken that. Maybe she was out for a run. Maybe Pete had taken her out. At that thought Jack was half tempted to just leave the ring on her doorstep and never speak of it, but just then, Carter opened the door wearing just a towel and a flustered expression.

"Sorry, sir! I fell asleep in the bath. I hope you weren't waiting long."

It was as if just the sight of her was all it took to break his resolve. Suddenly, the tiny part of him that understood how he loved her was jumping up and down, screaming to be heard. He'd always thought that as long as he had the ring, there was a chance for them. Giving up the ring had meant giving her all the cards, knowing she'd already made her decision.

As they had many times over the years, Jacob's words floated back to him. _Heartless, immoral, unworthy._ He knew full well that he was all of those things. But Carter hadn't thought so. He wondered if she did now.

"Carter," he said stiffly. "Can I come in?"

Carter seated him and offered him coffee, then rushed off to get dressed. Jack supposed that how uncomfortable she was with him in her house should hurt him, but he was used to it. Carter was never easy around him anymore. Recently they both just tried to stay away from each other as much as they could.

In an effort to not fall into the trap of discomfort just yet tonight, Jack perused her bookshelves and rearranged a few to annoy her. He nosed through her magazines, and was just settling down with an article entitled "What Women Want", when the woman _he_ wanted finally made an appearance.

God, she was gorgeous. He'd ingrained it into himself so deeply not to notice that now he let himself really look at her, for the first time in weeks. Gorgeous, but tired. Her hair was damp, and she'd run her fingers through it, leaving it ruffled. Her cheeks were flushed from the heat ... and she was shifting restlessly under his gaze.

Coughing with embarrassment, he looked away, eyes searching for something, anything that wasn't her. This felt horribly familiar, like every time they'd been in a room together for years. Even now, alone in her house with no cameras and nobody to watch them, he could feel the mantra he'd always held to running through his head. _Don't look too long, don't stand too close. She's not yours._

Carter laughed suddenly, caught herself quickly.

"What?" he asked softly.

"Bit uncomfortable, isn't it?" she joked. Jack didn't find it funny, but couldn't help but think they'd come full circle. He'd held his tongue back then. But he couldn't now. So he took a breath:

"Jacob gave me something that I think you should have."


	4. Chapter 4

Just to be clear: chapters 1 and 3, and 2 and 4 are in order and go together. 2 and 4 are set before chapter 1.

Enjoy :-)

It's three months before Jacob speaks to him again.

Jack, being Jack, decides that he should push his luck, dive right in, and ask again.

"So, dad. Thought any more about what I asked?" he says jovially as they're walking from the gate room to the briefing room.

Jacob isn't impressed. "Is this what it's going to be, Jack? Every time we see each other? Because I'll tell you now, the Tau'ri-Tok'ra alliance is _not worth it._" He hisses the last part and Jack can feel Carter's eyes boring holes into their backs wondering what they're talking about.

"Tit for tat, Jacob," Jack singsongs. "You ask us a favour, send us on an exceedingly dangerous mission and I get to-"

Hammond interrupts him just then, and it's probably for the best.

Another time, they've just escaped from Sokar's custom built hell. Jack knows that Jacob's noticed how jealous he is of Martouf and the relationship he and Carter have always shared, and how close by Jack's kept her this mission as a result. He knows how hard it is for her to look at Martouf and sometimes see him through Jolinar's eyes.

Jacob drags him aside just before SG-1 are set to leave. "I don't get it, Jack. You get my permission, and then what? You resign? Or ask her to risk her career and everything she's every worked for to sneak around with you?"

Jack can't help but feel he's starting to wear Jacob down.

"Nothing happens, Jacob. Nothing _will_ happen for a while yet. It's in the works for Hammond to retire and me to take charge of the SGC. I can run it as a civilian or just retire; either way is fine by me."

"And what happens then?"

"Then... I ask Carter out for a coffee, or a movie, and we take it from there."

Jacob opens his mouth but before words come out, Teal'c appears. "O'Neill, it is time for us to depart."

Jack looks at Jacob quickly; he shakes his head and steps back, hugging Carter and disappearing into the sea of Tok'ra that surround them.

Jack watches Carter watch her father leave and wishes he could make it better.


End file.
